When working, it is often the case that a part or tool will be dropped. Such a dropped object will often come to rest in an area not readily accessible without difficulty or excessive effort. For example, while cutting and forming a vent flashing during the construction of a roof, the worker may drop the flashing (or the cutters) off the roof. The worker would then be obliged to climb down to retrieve the dropped object, then climb back up to the roof to continue the work. This action represents a radical interruption of the work in progress.
What is needed, therefore, is a tool for the retrieval of a dropped object without necessitating radical interruption of the work in progress.
Conventional magnetic remote-retrieval devices are known to those skilled in the prior art. However, such conventional devices suffer from two primary drawbacks, insufficient reach and insufficient magnet strength. Devices with a reasonable reach, i.e., with extensible members of a reasonable length, are awkward to carry. That is, such devices fit conveniently into neither a pocket nor an apron, and occupy an inordinate amount of space in a tool box. As a result, such devices are rarely carried, hence not present when an object is dropped. Having to fetch the device is itself a radical interruption of the work in progress. Such devices are useful, therefore, only when an object is dropped into an otherwise inaccessible location, such as inside a wall.
For those devices designed to fit conveniently into a toolbox, the dimensions of the extensible member is such that only a short reach, typically under three feet, is feasible. Also, the scale of dimensions necessitate the use of a small, hence relatively weak, magnet. Such devices are only useful for small objects (nuts, bolts, etc.) dropped into relatively close otherwise inaccessible areas, such as inside a half wall or into a close corner.
What is needed, therefore, is a tool for the retrieval of an object of reasonable mass over a considerable distance, often greater than ten feet, without necessitating radical interruption of the work in progress.
It is only when the retrieval distance is small, e.g., a few feet down inside a wall, that retrieval may be accomplished through a typical prior-art magnetic or mechanical retrieval wand. Even this, however, requires that the wand be at hand. Such wands are typically of the "pencil" variety when not extended. In theory, a pencil-type device would be easily carried in a pocket or apron. In practice, however, spaces for pencils and other thin clip-on devices are at a premium. The result is that the worker would typically carry such a device in a toolbox, not a pocket. This necessitates that the worker fetch the device from the toolbox, often not proximate the worksite, to effect the retrieval.
What is needed, therefore, is a tool for the retrieval of a dropped object, wherein the device is of a small enough size to be carried without becoming a burden or annoyance to the worker, without displacing another tool, and possessing an extensive reach and a reasonable lifting capacity.